


Burning Down Around Us

by royalDelirium



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Arson, M/M, References to human experimentation, References to kidnapping, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24513847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/royalDelirium/pseuds/royalDelirium
Summary: Galo’s life changed that day in the fire, awakening a power inside of him, he never knew he had. His job is taken from him and he is forced into a new role. The group of detectives he is now working with is looking into the mysterious fires that have been breaking out around the city. They may have a break in the case, but it involves Galo working with the leader of the local supernatural gang, Lio Fotia.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29
Collections: Promare Big Burn 2020





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is my piece for the 2020 Promare Big Burn.  
> Many thanks to the artist who jumped in last minute to work with me Ohgawdplzkthnx {[Tumblr](https://ohgawdplzkthnx.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/GettingSomeCoin)}

The heat licked at his exposed skin, his mask and helmet long lost somewhere in the chaos behind him. Each gasp of breath burned as smoke filled his lungs. The world was a haze with dark corners, whether it was from the smoke and heat or his head swimming from the lack of oxygen, he could not tell. Even with the exhaustion and pain weighing down on him he would not fall here, the exit was so close.

Something hit his foot, and even though his legs were numb like jelly he could feel the shock run up his body. It was the end. Crashing to his knees, the precious cargo slung across his back slid across the ground, resting just out of reach. 

Her head, facing the other direction, he could not even see her face anymore. Her hair surrounded her head, the soot could be seen clinging to the curls. Her arm was lying lifeless, stretched out just barely above her head. The coat that had been hanging loosely from her shoulders was bundled just under her back, twisted from the slide across the ground.

“No,” he croaked out, reaching towards her. 

His arm gave out beneath him and he collapsed, arm still outstretched, she was just beyond his reach. There was not enough energy left in his body to even more, how could he reach this point?

The world exploded into white as his body filled with heat. Something snapped inside him, and he was burning from the inside out. Just as quickly as the feeling filled him, it rushed out of him leaving everything black and cold.

He is Galo Thymos, this could not be the end. 

☆

A form filled the doorway, blocking the light and casting a long shadow into the broken entryway. A heavy sigh left the young man as he looked into the ash and haze filled space. A single gloved hand waved through the air and a small gust parted the sea of ash and dust leaving a clear path forward. 

Boots crunched through the debris and ash danced along with every step, clinging to the edges of his heels. Carefully he made his way through the building, avoiding the places that parts of the ceiling had fallen to the ground. Even with the fire cleared things were still hot to the touch. As he forged his path, he kept his hands to himself. He checked every nook and cranny for any sign or hint. He could feel them in here, but he had not seen them yet. Entering the next room, he finally spied his goal.

Rushing forward he dropped down between the two bodies, not bothering with the ash that rushed up around him at his movements. Pressing his fingers to the young woman’s neck he held his breath until he felt those thumps against his fingers. A quick glance showed all her limbs were there and none were twisted. Turning to the strange young man, he rolled him onto his back. He did not have to question if he was still alive since his movement caused the young man to cough and groan before falling still again.

Heavily a thankful sigh he started looking over them for any serious injuries. Her clothes had burns and her skin was heated, but her head seemed untouched. Nothing was obviously broken, so he turned his attention back to the young firefighter. His burns seemed more severe, closer to the skin, parts of his clothes were completely gone. Some blood could be seen around the knees of his pants, but that was the only place that seemed to have broken skin. His head though, there was a forming bump on his head.

“Hey boss, have you found her?” a familiar voice called out.

He stopped looking over the stranger and glanced up at the pair who entered the room. He could not help the smile that danced at his lips for a moment. The pair rushed forward with ease, seeming to avoid the little bit of debris without even thinking.

“She needs to be taken back home so someone can look over her more thoroughly,” he explained standing up and brushing the ash off his pants. 

The long-haired man strolled forward and carefully scooped the young woman up, he made sure her head was rested against his shoulder before looking back at his leader. The leader brushed his fingers against her forehead, trying to keep his worry off his face.

The redhead looked down at the other person found in the room, the only stranger. He nudged him with his foot, frowning when the man did not stir.

“What are we going to do with him?” he asked, “are we bringing him back with us?”

The boss shook his head, “no, that power was too forceful and uncontrolled, I don’t think he knew he had it.”

They were well equipped to handle people just discovering their powers. They had lots of experience training those who were lost and confused. But they could not just drag a stranger out of his life and back with them. Maybe if they ran into him again, they would make that offer, but not now. Besides he needed medical attention, more than they could handle back at their place. 

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out two scraps of paper. “I’ll take him outside,” he passed one of the scraps over to his friends. “I’ll see you two back at home.”

The redhead took the scrap in his hand and patted his leader on the shoulder with the other. Once more the leader brushed his fingers along the woman’s forehead, the worry shining, but the determination was stronger. The pair stepped back out of the way.

“We’ll see you back home,” the red-head said as the trio vanished.

Left alone with the reckless firefighter, the boss kneeled next to him. “Hopefully, your new power doesn’t change your life too much.”

He gave the man one more check over, after all he was dropping him off with them and they would take any offense personally. They would likely say he tried to kill the man or some other ridiculous claim.

Brushing his fingers against the warm cheek he let out another sigh, it seemed the only thing the firefighter was suffering from was exhaustion from releasing so much power at once, the injury on his head, and the mild burns from the fire. A quick push of his power made it clear that the physical injuries were not as severe as he first thought.

Pressing his hand against the exposed shoulder he closed his eyes as the world blurred around them. A familiar twist in his stomach came with the rush of power, but it quickly left, something he experienced a countless number of times. 

A moment later sunlight burned against his eyelids, he slowly opened them giving himself a chance to adjust to the sudden flood of light. Carefully he stood up and took stock of the scene around them. The area was swarming with people, there were officers trying to push the gawking public out of the way. There was a cluster of firefighters off to the side, he thought about making his way over to them when another person caught his eye.

Standing in the midst of the unorganized scene was the governor. He narrowed his eyes as he took in how the man was looking over at them, no, not at them, at the firefighter. Glancing down at the firefighter, he was not going to leave him to that mess. When he looked back up, he saw the governor motioning to the leader of the Freeze Force. 

He clicked his tongue and quickly looked around for the person he knew would be at the scene. He needed that man now before they came over here. Finally, his eyes met with the familiar set of shades. Even not being able to see his eyes, he knew he made eye contact with Ignis when the man came over without being called.

Before he could ask any questions, the young boss stepped back, between the firefighter and the other group. “You might want to have him checked out,” he said waving his hand over the firefighter, “he is the one who put out the fire.”

Not allowing another word to be spoken he gripped the piece of paper in his hand tightly, just shy of wrinkling it. He allowed himself one last glance in the governor’s direction as he faded away. Hopefully, he could trust Ignis to not allow the new psychic to fall into the wrong hands.

☆

Hundreds of years have passed since the Great Reveal, the moment the supernatural stepped out of the shadows and revealed themselves to humanity. Fear was strong in those days, with humans protesting and worried, they were no longer the highest on the food chain. The horror stories had come to life and the things that went bump in the night were real.

Myths and legends had suddenly become reality and no one was quite sure which parts of the myths were real. Did mermaids really drag sailors to their deaths? Did vampires prey on humans draining them dry? Did werewolves lose their sanity to the moon and bite humans turning them into beasts?

Many laws were put into place, with supernatural communities spearheading the whole effort. After all, they wanted to emerge from the shadows and give up their own life of fear. Those creatures with less horrific mythos had an easier time making their treaties. The beings who looked more human had an easier time assimilating. Agreements were reached and humans seemed to calm down a bit, the fear and distrust were still strong in the undercurrent, but they all lived in relative peace.

While the peace was settling on the surface human governments quickly went to work secretly trying to develop some method of competing with their supernatural counterparts. Some method of keeping power in the hands they thought it should be.

And thus the Unlock occurred. One scientist discovered the secret to unlocking abilities buried in the human brain, psychic abilities. The government of his country tried to take this information from him, to use it to build up their own army, but he had other ideas, he was not about to let one group have this power.

Taking his research, he unleashed something into the world and it had profound effects. No one knows if it was some chemical released into the drinking supply or some sort of wave spread across the globe. But somehow people began unlocking this power at random.

As it began the man disappeared, his research taken with him, not a single trace left behind. Even the few people who had worked with him did not have a single note to their names. No one could figure out what he had done or how, but the damage was done.

Chaos descended across the world. Everywhere normal humans were suddenly developing abilities that they never had before, abilities that they could not control. Things began moving with a thought, random fires burst into life, no thought was hidden from those who could hear them, and even the future possibilities were no longer secret. Information was leaked and now everyone knew that human governments had been preparing to fight against the supernatural community.

Anger fueled on all sides and the poor people who were developing abilities were caught in the middle. They were no longer human according to some people, friends turned their backs on them, families disowned them. They were the product of experiments that were to subjugate the supernatural so they received no help from that end either. And then some governments were trying to round them up, either to create that army or to be experimented on.

No one is quite sure where the catalyst came from, but things started to back down. Soon there were those in the supernatural community who reached out to help the poor psychics learn control. A decision was made. Psychics were humans, but the bridge between the supernatural community and humans. Soon a new peace seemed to settle over them, but it was far more cautious than the first one had been. Some lands were exclusionary, no supernatural allowed or human free zones, others worked together to keep a balance.

As time has passed and generations are born only knowing this world, everything seems to be smoothing out. And whatever that scientist did hundreds of years ago, psychics still develop at random and no one is able to figure out how or why.


	2. Chapter Two

Shaking ever so slightly, the burn in Galo’s thighs pulsed with every beat of his heart. His vision wavered as the pressure built up around his head. Even through the rushing of his blood against his eardrums, he could hear the door slide open, breaking him from his thoughts. He tried to look in that direction, but his head throbbed with the moment. Luckily, he did not have to wonder who came in for long.

Aina looked forward as the door slid open and groaned at the sight that met her gaze. “Galo get down from there! Jeez, look at you, are you trying to cause more brain damage?” She stomped over to the pull-up bar and grabbed on to the side of it.

They knew they would find the firefighting nut in here. He basically lived in the rec room when he was in the station. He wanted to keep himself in perfect shape for the day when the governor would finally allow him a spot in a firefighting force again. So, when Varys let them know the Captain wanted to meet up with everyone they knew to come here for Galo.

“I won’t cause brain damage from hanging upside down,” Galo replied.

His abdomen protested as he hauled himself upright, his hands latched onto the bar so he could slide forward off the bar and back onto his feet. His legs gave out beneath him under the sudden change and he stumbled over and into the bar Aina was holding onto. Her hand quickly rested against his back helping him stay standing as he grabbed onto the bar. 

The world swayed heavily, and his vision went black until the rush faded away. Once everything was back to normal, he shot a grin to the rest of the group who had joined them. Aina scoffed and smacked his arm before taking her preferred seat on the edge of the couch. She pulled out her phone, quickly opening her note-taking application.

Varys was successfully ignoring their shenanigans as he made his way around the edge of the room so he could stand next to the window. He did not look outside though, he turned his back to the glass and was watching the inside of the room with a small smile. Lucia was smirking at him from her chair in front of the spare computer, her eyes glancing at Remi who was frowning from the doorway.

“The bar is for pull-ups, not for hanging upside down,” Remi stated, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I will have that removed from the recreation room if it cannot be used properly.”

A threat that had been issued many times since the former firefighter had arrived in the group. It never seemed to stick and everyone knew that even if it was removed it would show back up the next day by order of the boss. Galo opened his mouth to respond but was stopped by the boss man walking in the room

Ignis nodded as he looked at everyone. “Oh good, you are all here. We have another case.”

He passed the papers he was holding to Remi and walked to the front of the room. Remi followed behind him, already flipping through the papers, eyes skimming over the facts as they moved. Galo dove for the couch, dropping down onto the cushions, ignoring Aina’s glare as he made the whole thing bounce.

“One of the arsons and missing persons cases?” Varys asked, “or is it another Wonderland result case?”

“You were correct on the first guess,” Ignis said, he nodded to his second. “Remi go ahead and read the facts.”

Remi flipped back to the first sheet in the packet and started reading. “The fire took place in a lab off of 32nd Avenue, it looks like it occurred from an explosion near the back corner of the building. Most of the scientists made it out with no injuries, the ones who were injured had no more than a few scrapes and bruises, likely from scrambling to get out of the building. One person is missing, a lab technician. No one saw her leave the building, they know she was there at the time of the explosion, but no one can recall her whereabouts during or after the incident.”

The room was quiet while everyone took in the information. Aina was pulling up the location on her phone and Lucia was typing frantically on her laptop. Galo twitched in his seat, leaning forward ready to jump up.

Ignis made eye contact with all of them before speaking up, “so, a similar situation to the previous incidents, but this time we have far more witnesses.”

Galo jumped up, “let’s get to that scene!” He started to turn to the door but was stopped by Ignis raising a single hand.

“Not so fast,” the captain said. “We are going to handle this one a bit differently.”

Aina looked up from her phone at that. “What do you mean?”

Brows furrowed in confusion and raised in interest around the room. The words got everyone to pay closer attention.

“Before I got this case, I received a call,” Ignis leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms, “from the leader of Mad Burnish.”

“Eh?” Lucia said, leaning backward so she was hanging off the edge of her seat. “Why was he calling you?”

“He would like our help with this case.”

The entire room fell silent, almost as if everyone was afraid to breathe. They all looked down, not looking at each other. Galo was the only one moving, turning his head this way and that way, looking around at everyone. He opened his mouth, but someone else beat him to ask a question. His lower lip stuck out as he snapped his mouth shut.

“What? Why?” Aina asked.

Ignis looked over the group again. “He is going to meet up with a couple of you at the crime scene.” He looked to the couch pair, “Galo, Aina, I would like you two to handle that. Remi and Varys, I would like you two to get a head start on re-interviewing the witnesses.

Aina jumped up this time, “Galo and me? Wouldn’t it be better for you to meet up with him?”

Ignis shook his head. “No, I think the two of you would be better at this.”

She stood in front of her leader, making eye contact with him through his shades. Galo, already on his feet, hurried over to the door. He stopped when he realized that she was not following him.

“Aina, let’s go,” Galo called from the doorway, “the crime scene won’t wait!” He did not bother waiting for her to move, already sprinting down the hallway.

“Galo!” she shouted at him, “Jeez!” Nodding to the captain she jogged out of the room after the man.

Varys walked over to Remi, the two of them began looking over the witness list as they left the room, leaving just Lucia and Ignis behind. The two of them stared at each other before finally, Lucia leaned her chin on the back of the chair.

“You sure about that?” she asked, leaning her head in the direction of the door. They both knew she was talking about Galo and Aina.

“Yes, very,” he responded, not even a moment’s hesitation, as he looked out the door. 

His phone vibrated with a notification in his pocket. He read the message and stuffed it back in his pocket, it did not need a response.

_I will be waiting._


	3. Chapter Three

Heat beat down on the concrete jungle, without a single cloud to grant them respite. Even from her spot under the protective branches of a tree, Aina had to fan herself with one of the pamphlets she had on her. She stared at Galo who was sitting in the direct line of fire, perched on the stone bench out in the sunlight. How he was not dying from the heat, she could not figure it out.

The tapping of his foot against the concrete was getting more aggressive as the minutes passed. They had arrived at the scene nearly half an hour ago and there had not been any sign of the man they were supposed to meet here. He had been in the shade with her for the first half of the wait, but his pacing made her kick him in the ankle, so he decided to sit and wait.

Aina watched his hands tighten into fists. She sighed and checked her phone, nothing from the captain. As soon as her eyes left her partner he jumped to his feet.

“I’m going in!” Galo shouted turning to the building that had been taunting them.

The windows had black marks around them, the only signs of what had happened that they could see from this side of the building. Even looking at it called to Galo in a deep way. He could not stand the waiting anymore.

“Galo,” Aina called out, not daring to leave the shade as she watched him walk up the walkway to the building. “We are supposed to wait for the leader of Mad Burnish!”

Galo looked over his shoulder at her. “You can wait for him out here, I’m going to get a head start.”

He ignored her shouts and went into the building without another look back. 

Honestly, even with an explosion, the state of this scene was better than many of the others. Most of the buildings were left as little more than hollowed-out husks. This one, while singed and blackened, was standing intact.

Carefully he made his way into the building, this must have been a reception area, twisted puddles of plastic sat in rows, likely chairs, melted where they stood. The area that had likely been the reception desk was gone, just a pile of ash. He paused at the sight. This should have been one of the least damaged areas, as it was the farthest from the source. 

This room was not his destination though, he did not need to focus on the damage here just yet. Those questions could be thought over later after he found the source. He walked through to the hallway. Each room he came across was in much the same state, some were better than others, but most showed signs of being touched by the fire. None were quite as bad as the front reception area though. The question circled in his head again about why that front area was so badly damaged.

Finally, he came to the last door, the final room, and the one he had been looking for, the lab room. This room showed all the signs and it was where the fire had begun. The door was ripped off its hinges lying out in the hall, Galo made his way around it and entered the room. For being the room where it all began, this room was still not nearly as badly damaged as the front. It was definitely worse than the other rooms, but...

Charred black marks covered the room from what he could see. All of the tables were still standing, untouched except for the ash and debris resting on their surfaces. Shards of glass littered the floor and tables, maybe dropped or knocked over, but not likely from the heat.

On the far side of the room, but not hidden behind the rows of shelving was the rubble from where part of the wall was ripped apart. An explosion was the cause of the fire and that was where it had happened. 

Looking around he started to take a closer look at everything as he made his way to the other side of the room when a sound caught his attention, breathing and footsteps. Stopping he focused and sure enough, he could hear heels clicking against the ground. Each step was slow and pronounced, measured, as if to purposefully make the sound.

Looking back out he verified that it was not Aina coming after him before pulling out his weapon. Someone else was in the building, in fact, they likely were in this same room, and he could not think of any good reason for them to be here. 

Creeping further into the room he tried to follow their sound, but it seemed to echo all around him, coming from every direction. Slipping down the rows and rows of shelving he checked each and every one of them. The damage was even less back this way, as if the fire never came back here at all. The light coming in from the hole in the wall was barely noticeable in the shadows, the further back he went. 

The air became heavier, the pressure he thought was from being in a ghost of a building seemed to press in closer to him. This was definitely not just in his head; this was someones doing.

Reaching the back wall, he still had not found the person. The sound stopped and he spun around, his weapon ready, but still he could not see anyone. Slowly he made his way back out to the front of the room. He maneuvered himself into the middle of the rows of tables so he could see every direction and he raised his weapon higher. There was nowhere to hide, this person would soon appear.

“Behind you,” a voice said near his ear.

Galo spun around, training his gun and gaze on the body that had been warm against his back. The sound of feet sliding against the ground hissed around them as the man skidded to a stop after leaping backward.

Now seeing him, Galo’s breath caught in his throat. The man radiated power, it poured off of him, sweeping over the area like waves. Burning waves, the power produced heat and pressure, pushing against Galo as he locked his legs to stand his ground. 

The power was not the only thing that caught his breath. Eyes shone like the sunset, they pulled him in, everything about him was captivating. He looked so young to be so powerful, but rule one of dealing with the supernatural, do not try comparing them to humans, age and appearance do not have much meaning.

“Oh, it’s you.”

The man’s voice snapped Galo out of his daze. He lowered his hand from where it had been held out and the overwhelming presence of magic faded away. Galo could finally get a full breath in; he took full advantage of the ability.

“Who are you?” Galo asked, refusing to lower his weapon even though the stranger seemed to have just disarmed.

The magic-user raised his eyebrow and leaned against one of the stable looking tables that was not covered in glass or other strewn about objects. He hooked his foot behind one of his ankles as he leaned there. “Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first before demanding answers?”

Galo finally lowered his gun, keeping it in hand, and pressed a thumb to his chest, “Galo Thymos.”

“Lio,” the stranger raised his chin, “Lio Fotia.”

The two stared at each other in silence and the air between them swirled. The ash danced around their ankles. Something about this man felt familiar, but he was certain he had never seen him before. He would remember a man this pretty. Lio started to push up from his relaxed pose as Galo took a step forward, but footsteps stopped them.

“Galo!” a voice called out from outside the room, breaking the almost trancelike state they had been in. Pink hair appeared around the corner, looking frantically around, “where did you...?” She stopped in the middle of her question as her eyes landed on the men. “Oh, you found him.”

“Aina,” Galo said as she strolled into the room, he started to move between her and Lio. The man was dangerous, even if he did not seem to be a threat at this moment.

Aina ignored him and looked at Lio, “I thought we were meeting outside.”

The quick comment stopped his protective thoughts, he looked back at Aina with his eyebrows raised. “What are you talking about?” Galo asked.

Gesturing towards the stranger, she looked at her partner with a raised eyebrow, “this is the boss of Mad Burnish.” He could read the ‘ _ did you guys not introduce yourselves already while you left me waiting outside? _ ’ in her look.

He froze and quickly spun back around to look at the mage, “You?”

Lio sighed and pushed himself back up so he was standing properly. He rolled his shoulders, there were mild cracking sounds as he did, before straightening his back. With a wave of his hand in front of him he introduced himself again. “I am Lio Fotia, the leader of Mad Burnish.”

There were no explosions of power or light shows to accompany the announcement of his name. But the moment almost seemed like it should have been followed up with some bizarre display of power.

“Aina Ardebit,” Aina said after staring at Galo’s shocked look for an extended moment, “pleasure to meet you.”

The pair watched as Lio walked around the tables, they could feel eyes on them even with his back turned. Aina barely suppressed the shiver that wanted to cover her body. She wanted to look around, but something in her told her not to. Either this feeling of being watched was some sort of by product of Lio’s power (who would be surprised if it turned out that he could literally have eyes in the back of his head?) or someone else was watching. Neither thought felt like a good thing, hopefully it was just paranoia.

Galo finally spoke up. “Why did you want to meet up with us?"

The mage stopped in mid step, his fingers dragging through the ash on the table, stirring it up centimeters from the table. He took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, almost painfully.

“They’ve grabbed enough of my people,” Lio said, his voice low as his fingers clenched tight in a fist.

“Your people?”

Lio looked back at the pair with a deep breath, “yes.” He nodded and his jaw tightened, “almost all of the kidnapped people are mine.”

The detective pair quickly looked at each other with wide eyes. Aina pulled out her phone, opening her notes. “I didn’t know any of the victims were Mad Burnish.” It had not been in any of their notes, that seems like it would have been something important to note about the victims.

“I’m surprised they held that information back from you guys,” Lio responded, his eyebrows scrunching together, “they are clearly trying to pin the arsons on us.”

Galo frowned, “They?”

The two men made eye contact, holding still for several long seconds. Lio’s eyes glanced to the corner narrowing slightly. “Later,” he responded quietly before returning to normal volume. “That wasn’t the only reason I reached out.”

“What was the second reason?” Aina asked.

“This was the second attempt to grab Thyma.”

The two detectives froze again. They looked to each other, despite their short time working together they could both easily read the words on each other’s faces.

Galo turned back to Lio, “what?”

“They tried to grab Thyma before,” the scowl on his face deepened as he clenched his teeth, “they were nearly successful that time,” he let out a sigh and focused on Galo, “but a reckless firefighter got in their way.”

He looked at the gang leader with his mouth slightly open, “wait.”

Lio frowned, “did you not read the reports before coming here?”

“Galo prefers to look at the scene before reading the reports, so he isn’t swayed by what he read before.” Aina jumped in reading the look on Lio’s face.

Letting a hum escape, Lio regarded Aina and Galo, nodding when he came to a conclusion. Holding his hand, he let out a breath and a single piece of paper rested in his palm as his lungs emptied. He looked at the page and for a moment the agony was so clearly visible on his face. The moment was gone as quickly as it came, the mask of the boss was back in its place. He stepped forward and held it out to the former firefighter.

Galo looked at the picture in his hand. “Wait, this is!”

The young woman in the picture was not looking at the camera, she seemed focused on whatever she was working on. But even without seeing all of her face, he would recognize her anywhere.

_ The feeling of fire licking at his heels as he reached out to her before the whole world went dark. _

Lio’s voice pulled Galo from his memories, “thank you for rescuing Thyma before.”

Aina looked around Galo’s arm at the picture in his hand. “Oh, is she the woman Galo saved when he discovered his power?”

“Yeah,” Galo responded with a sigh, “I wondered what happened to her before.”

He had woken in the hospital, surrounded by white walls and seeped in the smell of cleaning chemicals. The first question on his lips to the nurse who came in to find him awake was what happened to the young woman. She did not have an answer for him. He asked every single person who entered his room after that point the same question, no one had been able to tell him. Even Kray, the governor, who had come to tell him to visit him in his office once he was recovered did not have an answer for him.

Only when Galo finally met Captain Ignis did he have some sort of answer. “She was taken home,” he had said. The man had assured Galo that she was fine and that he did not need to worry about it anymore.

Lio let them focus on the picture as his attention was drawn elsewhere. He tapped his fingernail on one of the tables for several seconds before finally speaking up. “It is about time for me to go.”

“Wait,” Aina said, rushing to block his exit, “but we haven’t…”

He shook his head and looked off into the rest of the room, “now is not the time, we have a shadow.” 

The detectives quickly looked around, but neither saw another person. There was not anything out of the ordinary, no signs they were being watched. The feeling of being watched from earlier had vanished once Lio had turned back around.

“I just wanted to give you that information for now,” he said, stepping away from them.

Galo sighed, “so we have to meet up again."

There was a burning need for answers in his stomach, but he could clearly see that the Mad Burnish leader was not going to part with any extra information at the moment. 

Lio looked over his shoulder, “you will see me again.”

It felt like there should have been some sort of pop or light or something, but there was nothing. One moment Lio was standing in front of them, the next minute he was gone. With him he took a pressure that neither of them had realized had been pushing down on them.  


Galo scratched at his cheek, “I guess we should get to looking around the scene.”


	4. Chapter Four

Cheese, perfectly toasted, pulled from the slice of baked bread and tomato sauce. Teeth sank in deep, severing the bite from the rest of the slice. The hot deliciousness flooded his mouth, rewarding him with perfection for a day’s hard work. He let a moan escape his throat as he closed his eyes to savor the taste. An elbow to his gut ruined the wonderful moment.

“Don’t be weird,” Aina hissed at him before turning back to the rest of their team.

Galo could not help himself! Pizza was the greatest gift of mankind.

Varys was looking at Remi as he swallowed his mouthful, two pieces had already vanished from his plate. “So, this was the second attack on this victim,” he repeated the information just shared with them by Galo and Aina.

Remi nodded, his plate was cleaned and set off to the side as he looked over the information. “Likely means whoever is committing these acts thought she might know something,” he said, flipping through the pages. He clicked his pen against his cheek, adding notes to different parts of the file.

“She probably did know something,” Lucia said around a mouthful, “and she passed that information along already.” She swallowed and looked back to Aina and Galo, “why else would the leader of Mad Burnish be reaching out to us? I’m more interested in this shadow he mentioned.”

“I wonder what other information these gang members have,” the second in command said as he set the papers down on the table. He pressed his finger against his lips as he frowned in thought, after a moment, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and focused on the newest member of their team. “Galo you are sure they did not tell you a time they would meet up with us?”

Galo swallowed before responding, “he just said you’ll see me again before vanishing.”

There had been a lot of strangeness during the morning, from Lio and his tidbit of information, to the many strange things at the crime scene. Like the fact that the lobby had been, by far the most damaged part of the whole building. Or the fact that it almost seemed as if the explosion had been on the outside of the building, though he was not an explosion expert, they would need to get a specialist to look into that. 

“I,” Aina started to speak but her eye caught something before she could utter another word, “oh!”

Several shadows covered their table as the group fell silent. All eyes turned to the three men who approached their table, shadows casting across the pavement and creeping up the wood of the table to cover the pile of pizza.

The first two were unfamiliar, wearing smirks on their faces as they casually approached. One was tall and rail thin with hair that hung around his face and shoulders. The other had hair that seemed to stick out in all directions. The last man was extremely familiar, he had been seen just earlier that day.

“So, these are the Burning Rescue people, boss?” the redhead said as he looked over his shoulder at the boss who was trailing behind.

Lio nodded to the pair with a sigh. They shared a look and their smirks grew. Without asking permission or introducing themselves, the two unfamiliar faces grabbed two nearby chairs and wiggled themselves into the table, much to everyone’s confusion.

“You could ask them first,” Lio said, folding his arms over his chest. 

After a moment though, he took the empty seat next to Galo, dropping down into the chair with another heavy sigh. He leaned back in his seat, arm slung over the back of it, watching as the redhead stole a slice of pizza from the pile covering the middle of the table. The long haired one at least looked around and when none of the others seemed to stop his partner he stole a slice for himself. 

Aina leaned around Galo who had gone back to shoveling pizza in his face, when no one said anything regarding the newcomers. “Um Lio?” she asked, “what are you guys doing here?”

“Boss saw you guys over here,” the dark haired one said before Lio could respond, as he smacked the redhead's hand as he tried to take another slice.

“He didn’t want to bother you guys,” he said while rubbing his injured hand, “but we wanted to introduce ourselves.”

Lio scoffed, “an excuse clearly, since you guys haven’t introduced yourselves yet.”

They looked at each other and stuffed the last of the crust into their mouths as they stood up, almost knocking their chairs over in their rush up. One of the other nearby patrons scooted their chair farther from the group, with only an annoyed glance at the men who clearly were not paying attention to their surroundings.

The redhead held his hand up next to his head, sparks of electricity buzzed around his fingertips as he spoke. “I’m Guiera, psychic, my ability is lightning control.”

“I am Meis,” the long haired man said, holding his hand up just like his partner, “psychic, my ability is wind control.” A breeze rushed over them before the air went still again. “We are Lio’s second in command, we help lead the Mad Burnish.”

They both nodded at Lio as they sat back down, he just rolled his eyes at their shenanigans. They looked to the rest of the group, obviously waiting for introductions.

“We are the Burning Rescue,” Galo said, leaning back in his seat, he raised his chin, “I’m Galo Thymos! My skill is putting out fires.”

Aina rolled her eyes before nodding to them, “Aina Ardebit, nice to meet you.”

She was the elf of the group, her high pointed ears stuck out from her hair and were a very clear indication of her elf status. The fact that they were long and thin meant she came from the group who were once elven nobility, the fancy classy elves. She dressed casually and was sitting around eating pizza with her hands, she clearly was not one for all the pomp that elves were generally thought to have.

The rest of the group was quiet for several long seconds before the man built like a tank spoke up. “Varys Truss, the muscles of the group.”

He was harder to pinpoint, without some outward symbols, one might think the man was a human psychic. But his eyes gave him away, there was the shadow of a beast in there. He had to be a shapeshifter, one who could take on any animal form. 

“Guess I’m next,” the other girl in the group said, “I’m Lucia Fex.”

She kept the power close to her chest, it did not flow off of her in waves like many mages seemed to enjoy doing to show off. But even if she was not showing it off, the power that came from her was unmistakable, she had to be a high class mage.

Remi sighed, “Remi Puguna, why are you really here?"

No outward signs, nothing hiding in his eyes, there was not even anything in the air around him, Remi was the hardest to figure out. But having worked with Ignis before, Lio knew the man was a psychic, a very strong telekinetic who had his ability since childhood. He was likely powerful enough to rip a concrete building from its foundation if he so chose.

The only person missing from the group was its leader, the captain Ignis Ex. He was well known in the supernatural community for his fairness and strong sense of justice. He was worthy of his title. And as a Dragon, he was someone they could all look up to.

Lio’s eyes glanced around them, looking at each person in the immediate vicinity before holding his hand out to Galo. “Phone.”

“Huh?” Galo stopped mid bite.

“Give me your phone?” Lio clarified, wiggling his fingers.

“Why?” he asked, but pulled the device out and handed it over, “here.”

Lio pulled his phone out of his pocket and leaned back, pulling his legs up so his feet rested on the seat as he fiddled with both phones in his hands. He raised an eyebrow in Galo’s direction as the phone opened without needing to be unlocked. He was ignored, so he just went about his business, messing around in Galo’s phone.

The gang member pair looked at their boss and then looked at each other. They each looked at the rest of the group, only Aina and Remi seemed to care that they were there. The rest of them had gone back to doing whatever they had been before when it was clear there were not any answers forthcoming. With a nod both of the second-in-commands for Mad Burnish stood up, a silly grin spread across Guiera’s face as they did.

“Boss,” Meis said, calling his attention, he waited until Lio’s eyes met his gaze. “Guiera and I have some place to be. Fey needs our help with something.”

Guiera said, “yeah we will split up with you here.”

“Thanks for the pizza,” they said as they jogged off.

The group stared at them until they vanished into the crowd. They were gone before anyone could say anything, leaving behind more questions.

“Did they just steal our food and run off?” Aina asked.

Lio nodded, “yep.” He rolled his eyes since those men were the whole reason he had come over here in the first place. He passed the phone back to Galo, it was opened to the contacts page, his information sitting right there.

“It was already paid for so we could not make them pay anyway,” Remi sighed as he pushed back from the table. He collected the papers off the table.

Varys stood up as well, “we should head back and give our report to Ignis.”

“I’m heading back as well,” Lucia said, jumping off of her chair, she leaned on Aina’s chair. “Aina you gonna come back and report as well?”

“Yes,” she replied, “we should get to it while it is fresh in our memories.” She collected all the plates and put them into a neat pile in the center of the table.

Galo started to get up, but Lucia held a hand up to stop him.

“Galo you stay and handle that,” she said pointing at the Mad Burnish leader who narrowed his eyes at her, she only responded with a grin.

“I am not a ‘that’,” Lio mumbled under his breath.

Lucia pulled on Aina’s arm, dragging her away. “See ya later.”

Galo sank back into his seat as everyone left. He looked around the empty table, only thing left were the empty plates and the empty platter in the center of the table. Finally, his eyes landed on the Mad Burnish leader, the man they all abandoned him with.

“What?” Galo asked when he caught Lio looking up at him, those eyes seemed to stare straight through him as if he could read minds. He would not be surprised if he could actually.

He shrugged, “looks like your teammates abandoned you.”

“Like yours weren’t the first to take off,” he complained. With another glance around the table something came to him, “you didn’t eat, did you want some pizza?”

“Are you a bottomless pit?”

Galo grinned at the question and patted his stomach. “For pizza absolutely.”

Lio put his phone back in his pocket and sat up. “I haven’t tried it before,” he admitted with a shrug.

“You?!” Galo shouted, shocking the other patrons, and making Lio jump. “We are fixing this now!”


	5. Chapter Five

The door clicked open and swung wide, smacking against a carefully placed doorstop as the pair stumbled into the room. A large hand smacked blindly at the light switch, landing perfectly from muscle memory as the room lit up with artificial light. 

Lio jumped to the side, saving his toes from being stomped on. He shoved at Galo, laughing silently as he turned to look around the entryway.

“So, this is what your apartment looks like,” he said walking around the room.

The room was a very comfortable space, a single couch sat nearly in the middle of the room facing a wall mounted flat screen TV. The stand below the TV had all sorts of gadgets and gizmos on it, organized chaos of video game systems. But even with the mess, not a single cord laid out in front of the stand, all of them went behind the stand out of sight and out of the way. The corner was filled with a large bookcase, but only half of one of the shelves had any books on it. The rest of the shelves were filled with movies and video games. 

Between the TV stand and the couch was a simple coffee table, placed with enough room to move around it with no trouble. There were a few knick knacks resting on the table, but not enough to make it seem cluttered at all. 

Galo crossed the room to throw open the curtains covering the windows. Sunlight filled the space so he could flip the lights off again. The plant near the door smacked him as he awkwardly tried turning off the lights while looking at Lio.

He narrowed his eyes and came over to kick at Lio’s heels. “What were you expecting?”

Lio raised an eyebrow, “based on how you avoided letting me come over and how you eat I was expecting a mess.” 

He leaned over to look under the coffee table. Nothing was hidden under the coffee table, even the rug was cleaned, no food crumbs obviously resting on it. 

“Excuse me you still haven't let me see your place either!” Galo pouted, “I bet yours is a mess.”

He stood up straight and raised an eyebrow at Galo. “I live with Meis and Guiera, what else would you expect?”

Lio pushed Galo out of the way as he tried to get to the kitchen. Galo put his arm in the way, so he tried to duck under it, but ended up wrapped up with Galo’s arms around his shoulders.

“You let them keep it messy?” Galo teased, grunting when he received an elbow to his side.

The smaller man pulled at the arms and when the other would not let him go, he resorted to drastic measures. His hands started to warm, and Galo quickly let go. One time of being lit on fire for messing with Lio was enough to learn his lesson. His shirt had not survived the encounter.

Lio quickly stepped out of grabbing range. “I don't let anything,” he said, putting his fists on his hips, “you try to control those two.”

“If you bat your eyelashes, they will do anything,” Galo teased back, blinking as if he were fluttering his eyelashes.

The mad burnish leader growled out a “fuck you,” and launched himself forward. The detective was taken by surprise, knocked off his feet, and the two of them landed on the couch in a pile of limbs. Lio sat triumphantly on Galo’s stomach only to be dragged down and their positions flipped. He knocked one of Galo’s legs off the couch and grunted when that only resulted in him having to bear the full weight of a man who trained to rush into burning buildings.

The two of them stopped moving as they realized how much their bodies were touching. The leg still on the couch was wedged between Lio’s legs, their hips pressed fully against each other. They could feel each other’s hip bones, belts, and other such things in that region. Their chests swelled as they each took a deep breath in. 

Slowly Galo pushed himself up so he could look down at Lio. How his hair spread out around his head, almost like a halo. His eyes danced as they both looked at each other, neither wishing to blink. Galo secretly admitted to himself that he enjoyed the pink that was slowly filling those cheeks.

A familiar tone filled the air and Lio shoved at Galo so he could sit up and answer. That ringtone was Meis, he would not be calling just to bother them. His cheeks burned as he pressed the answer button, they could not see him right now, but it still felt like being caught in a compromising position.

“Yeah?” he said, clearing his throat as he answered.

The crackling could be heard clearly through the phone and his heart froze. The burning in his cheeks drained away and was replaced by the pale of fear. 

"Boss," Guiera was the one shouting at him, " it's them!"

“Guiera!” he shouted into the phone, jumping up from the couch. “Where are you?”

He felt Galo stand up behind him, but his focus was not on anything around him. He jolted as he heard a curse, he could not tell which of them it was from, and the phone made a noise as it was dropped from whoever held it.

Meis shouted in the background, almost too far to hear, “tell him training!” There was a crunch and all sound vanished. Lio shouted their names into the phone, even though the line was cut, as his heart sunk. Neither man dared to breathe.

The floor shook beneath them as the phone slipped from Lio's grip. Galo dove for it, barely catching it before it hit the ground. He parted his lips to say something, but no sound came as he watched hands curl into fists. The shaking stopped as Lio let out a hiss, the pressure in the room became almost too much, so close to choking them.

Lio turned on his heel, the awareness of the room fading away, his focus set. He needed to get to them. There was no time to waste. 

As he grabbed the door handle and began to turn, a hand grabbed his wrist. He whipped his head back and barely stopped himself from lashing out at Galo. He held the burst of power under his skin as he stared at the other man with a sneer. He of all people should understand, he of all people should not be trying to stop him.

"Let me go," he ordered.

Galo pulled on his arm, handing him the phone. "Take me with you."

It caught him off guard, the four words barely registered. "What?" the pressure in the room lightened with the question. 

"Let me come," Galo said, "let me help."

Lio closed his eyes, the rage burning inside him dimmed. It still was there, a highly volatile ball of emotion in his chest, but it slowed the spread around his body. He was not vibrating with the energy anymore. The hand on his wrist grounded him, giving him focus. The warmth of Galo’s fingers soothed the ache. He let his fingers slip from the door handle.

Opening his eyes, the fire still burned, but did not consume. "Come on."

{Art by Ohgawdplzkthnx [Tumblr](https://ohgawdplzkthnx.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/GettingSomeCoin)}  


He took the offered phone from Galo’s outstretched hand and slid it back into place in his pocket. Barely acknowledging the grin that was thrown his way, he tossed open the front door leaving it open for him to follow. He kept an even pace, not running forward as he so wanted to. 

Galo locked the apartment behind them and followed Lio out of the building. The streets were bustling, but everyone seemed to sense their urgency and parted the way. He stopped when he realized Lio was walking up to his motorcycle and that the car he usually saw was nowhere in sight.

“The motorcycle?”

Lio raised an eyebrow, he took the look as the reprimand it was. The shorter man opened the compartment in the bike and pulled out a helmet, holding it out to him. “Take it.”

“Safety first,” he replied as he took it into his hands.

Once his head was all protected, he jumped on the back of the bike behind Lio. He had to pause and debate how to best hold on. Hold on to the seat and hope for the best? Or wrap his arms around Lio?

“Hold on tight.”

The motorcycle roared to life and Galo quickly made the decision to throw his arms around Lio. He locked his arms around his waist, holding tight. The man was on a mission, he could not get in the way of that.

Thank goodness he could not smell anything in this helmet at least. 

The wind rushed by them as the bike took off. Galo could have sworn he heard a shout as they blasted out onto the street, but he did not look back. He would not have seen anything anyway, the speed limits they smashed meant nothing. 

He could feel the tension in Lio’s body even through the jacket he was wearing. Scooting forward carefully so he could more easily press his shoulder to the driver’s back. Slowly that tension lightened, just a bit. They still went far faster than allowed, but…

Soon black smoke could be seen rising above the buildings. The wheels of the bike screeched as they turned the corner. Flames could be seen coming out of one of the buildings, black smoke flowing out of the windows and upward. 

“Shit,” Galo hissed at the sight.

Lio barely stopped the bike in time, Galo grunted as he crashed into his back as they stopped. His arms were flung away from the leader’s hips, and he was shoved backward as the driver leapt off the still running bike.

“Meis! Guiera!” Lio shouted, throwing his helmet off, it hit the ground with a heavy thud, and sprinting into the building.

“Lio!” Galo shouted after him, switching the bike off and taking off his own helmet, carefully placing it on the seat of the bike. “Wait!” Lio was already out of view, vanishing into the flames. “Shit.”

Galo gathered his power as he ran in after him, the flames drawing towards him.

He could hear the flames around him, as they came to him, dying as soon as his power touched them. He left only ash behind as he rushed through the building shouting Lio’s name. He tried to listen for the shouts of his friend’s names, but his head pounded from using so much of his ability. 

He would not have gotten hurt, he was too strong, he had to be fine.

He could barely see anything around him, the place was absolutely destroyed. From the little bit he could see through the haze, it did not look like the fire was the cause of the damage. He let his firefighting instincts overrule the detective training he had instilled in him since his change in profession. He could deal with questions after he put out the fire and found Lio.

As the last flame sizzled out of existence, he felt the snap of Lio’s power. Wind rushed through the building, pushing ash and debris out. The push nearly knocked his feet out from beneath him, but he locked his legs and leaned into the onslaught. Galo charged forward, against the wind, knowing it would lead to Lio. His muscles burned the closer he got as the intensity increased.

As soon as he was in his sights he shouted his name. “Lio!”

At the sound of his name the wind stopped, everything stopped. He nearly fell forward as his balance tipped, stumbling he kept himself upright. 

Lio was on his knees in the middle of an empty area, his back to Galo. His shoulders were rolled forward and his head was hanging, chin likely pressed to his chest. Objects he could not identify were shoved up against the wall, piled high, likely from the rush of wind.

“They took them.” The words were hissed quietly.

There was a devastation in his voice, agony could be felt from the three words.

Galo crept forward carefully, “Lio?” 

He took very slow steps, pausing after each one, as if approaching a frightened animal. Once he was close enough to touch, he reached out, but before his fingers could brush one of those drooped shoulders, Lio jumped to his feet. The pressure of Lio’s magic nearly knocked Galo to his knees. It rained down from above, as if tons of steel were bearing down on them.

“Shit Lio calm down!”

Lio spun around and his eyes blazed, brighter than the fire that he had just put out. “I will kill him.”

The pressure from above was met with pressure coming in sideways. Galo pressed his hands to his head as it increased, covering his ears. When it did not help he reached out towards Lio, prepared to grab him in hopes that physical touch would calm him down like the last few times Lio seemed to lose it.

“Lio! Stop!” Galo shouted as his ears popped, “think rationally about this!”

“No!” The roof above them already cracked from the fire, shook, pieces falling around them. “This is the last straw! I will kill Kray Foresight!” With the declaration the pressure vanished.

He stopped in the middle of reaching out to Lio, “Kray?” Lio started walking around him and he quickly grabbed the arm he held earlier. “Wait!”

“Let me go!” Lio nearly yanked his arm out of the socket as he tried to jerk away.

Keeping his voice calm, he asked, “Lio, what about Kray?”

“He’s the one behind all of this!”

Lio tried to yank his arm free, but Galo pulled back at the same moment, causing Lio to stumble right into him. He wrapped an arm around his waist, keeping him pressed right against him. Lio’s back to his front, held so tight not even a breeze could fit between them. He pulled the arm held in his grip up, so it was above his head. A foot came down hard on his own foot.

“Ow!” he whined, “are you going to bite me next?”

Lio stomped again, “I might if you don’t let me go.”

“I’m not letting go until you calm down.” Galo rested his chin on the head in front of him, grunting when the head pushed his teeth together by smashing up into his jaw.

Lio stopped fighting it, folding his arms over his chest as he leaned back, making the man holding him hold him up. “You think I can be calm right now?”

Heels pressed against the ground as he leaned back fully into the hold on him, he smirked as Galo grunted again and adjusted his hold on him. Unfortunately the man still would not let go even though he was holding all of Lio’s weight. Curse him and his need to be extremely fit.

“I get it,” was the reply as Galo tilted his head to the side, “but can you at least tell me what is going on?”

“Fine,” Lio sighed and then squirmed again. “Are you rubbing your cheek on my hair?”

“It’s soft,” the words mumbled into the back of his head.

He pulled at the arms again. “Let me go, I won’t go storming off.” When he felt the ruffling of his hair again he had to add, “and stop that.”

The arms released him and Lio leapt out of reach, ignoring the shiver at the sudden disappearance of intense body heat at his back. He scratched at his head, rubbing the spot that still felt warm. He could even feel the tangling of his hair where Galo’s face had been. Yanking his hand away he put his fists on his hips. He had to keep his focus on the reasons he was angry.

“Kray?” Galo prompted.

“We had an inkling before,” he started as he looked around them again, “but when you saved Thyma that first time we got the proof we needed.” A small sad smile crossed his lips for a short moment at the memory. “You busting in there, stopped them from taking her.” He looked at Galo, making sure to make direct eye contact, “she had been hunted by the Freeze Force.”

“Freeze Force?” Galo questioned, “but they are the firefighting squad?”

“Who better to be the first responding to a random fire than them?”

At that thought Lio looked around again. They had not even tried to put on an appearance of putting out this fire. It had roared until Galo put it to its end. Guiera had said it was them who were here, but why did not they stick around.

“But why?” Galo’s question pulled him from his thoughts.

He looked at the firefighter -- screw his current job title, the man was born to fight fires. His eyes trailed over the curious face. He could trust this man; he knew it from the first minute he laid eyes on him and every minute spent in his company after that just reinforced the message.

Galo was a man of integrity. But, did Lio really want to be the one to tell him the dark truth?

“They are doing experiments on my people,” he finally answered after swallowing the knot in his throat. “I don’t know what their final goal is,” he admitted, “but they’ve been taking my people to use them in experiments.” Lifting his head high he made eye contact again, “that’s why I need to go. This is the final straw.”

Taking in a deep breath, Lio held still and watched Galo’s mind race. He wanted to just go, but he also wanted to stay right here. He needed to know how Galo was going to react. Was he right in putting his faith in this man? Was the last month a waste? He had to know.

Finally, after several long torturous moments, those eyes focused back on him. A new intensity had filled his eyes, one Lio had only seen when the man was talking about fighting fires, when he was telling stories from his days working for the fire department.

“Let me go.”

Lio startled back at the words, “what?”

“I know Kray,” Galo explained, “what you really need is proof right? Let me go and get it.”

There was a light shining in his eyes, determination flooded off him and Lio could feel it. He was serious.

“Are you crazy?” Lio asked, turning around to pace back and forth.

Galo grinned, “not as crazy as busting in there, guns blazing.”

“You!” He pointed at the crazy firefighter.

His hand was grabbed and held tight, human warmth washing over his fingers. The magic danced to the surface, a will deep inside him reaching forward.

“Trust me,” Galo begged.

And he did, he could not deny that.

“If I don’t hear from you, I will bust in there, guns blazing.”

He yanked his hand away, pulling the sparks back as they reached out.

“Don’t worry,” Galo grinned, chest puffed out.

That was not an option he was going to worry, but all he said was, “you had better not get hurt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art in this chapter is from the amazing Ohgawdplzkthnx {[Tumblr](https://ohgawdplzkthnx.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/GettingSomeCoin)}


	6. Chapter Six

His foot tapped an erratic rhythm against the linoleum floor. The noise echoed through the hall, the only thing out of place in the space. White walls, almost glowing, grey floors, not a speck of dirt or dust in sight. Even the receptionist’s keyboard was silent, Galo wondered if she was just faking typing over there.

Honestly, the whole place was creepy, he could not remember if the last time he was here he felt that way or if it was just from the new information he had floating in his head. He tried to keep his focus, keep his emotions buried. 

The receptionist looked up and pinned him with a look. “Mr. Foresight will see you now.”

Jumping to his feet he shoved his hands into his pocket as he walked past her, he nodded and told her “thank you” as he nudged the door open.

The office was just as sparse as the reception area before it. The carpeted floor was a slightly darker grey, but the walls were the same pristine white. A long stretch to the single object in the room, a large wooden desk, completely devoid of anything on it. The back of the room was a wall of windows, looking out at the rest of the city, high above the rest of the towers to the sky.

Kray stood there staring out at the people below, featureless nobodies blending together like ants. Even now in his own space that man was standing tall and strong, arms crossed behind his back, almost appearing relaxed.

He matched the unsettling decor. He fit perfectly in the spotless room. His hair was slicked back, no shine to show what must be a massive amount of gel holding it in place so not even a single hair was out of place. His suit was as white as the walls, perfectly pressed and tailored so even the seams seemed invisible. His shoes were a sleek black, the sorts of dress shoes that would cost an average man his entire yearly income. 

His back was to the door, but Galo knew that he knew he was here. The man was choosing not to acknowledge his presence as he entered the space.

“Kray,” Galo said when he was halfway through the room.

Kray did not turn towards him, just kept staring out into the world. “I was wondering when you would come.”

He paused at the edge of the desk with those words, Galo looked at the side profile of Kray as he processed the words. “You knew I was coming?” he asked as he walked around the desk and stood just out of reach.

With what Lio had told him, maybe he should not be so shocked at that idea.

Kray finally turned his head towards the visitor, his eyes still hidden, but his gaze could be felt. “Of course,” he answered. “You started hanging out with that mage.” If he had not been turned towards Galo, he might have missed the way his face twisted when speaking of Lio. The slight wrinkle that appeared around one side of his nose and the rise of one side of his lips. “You would not allow him to come here on his own, you always were one charge headfirst into a fire.” He looked around the room, “I am surprised he did not accompany you.”

The hair raised on the back of Galo’s neck; his instincts were shouting at him. It was a good thing he did not let Lio come here.

“I came for answers,” he said trying to make eye contact with the leader of the supernatural divisions.

He had never been close to the man, but he had always been the boss of his boss. When Galo had been naught but a firefighter, Kray was the governor in charge of all the public safety workers. Now that Galo was part of a supernatural division, part of Burning Rescue, Kray was not just the governor, but the leader of all the divisions. 

He always worked more intimately with the supernatural divisions. Whether it was that they needed a closer eye on them like the public wanted or it was because the man was a psychic, one of them.

“First let me ask you,” Kray said looking back out the window, “how do you like your new powers?”

Galo tilted his head, “what?”

It was not a question he had been expecting. Though really he had not known what Kray could possibly have asked him. But this question, it was not one anyone had asked him at all.

“Your powers,” Kray repeated, “do you like them?”

“I haven’t really thought about it,” he answered after a moment, “I don’t really use it, so I don’t really think about it.”

Kray turned toward him, “so you do not resent your powers for losing you your job? For forcing you out of firefighting?”

He was standing in this very room, in this very spot, looking at the same man several months ago.

_ “What do you mean I can’t go back to my job?!” Galo demanded as he stared at Kray. _

_ Of all the reasons to be called up here after his long road of recovery, this is the one thing he did not expect. Galo’s ability is literally to put out fires! Well to control them to be precise, but the best way to deal with a fire is to put them out. _ __   
_   
_ __ He had spent almost a week cooped up in a bed after having burned himself to exhaustion using his new power. After that he had spent several weeks gaining his strength back and learning control of his ability so he did not burn himself out again.

_ Now he is ready and itching to get back to work and he is being told no?! _

_ The man was looking at him with pity, a single hand reached out and patted his shoulder as Kray shook his head. “Unfortunately, all those with supernatural abilities in government positions must work in the supernatural units, that is the law. We cannot have teams of normals and supernaturals mixing.” _

_ Galo folded his arms over his chest, “there is a supernatural firefighting team.” _

_ Kray shook his head. “Freeze Force has no openings at this time.” He met Galo’s gaze and sighed, “you can work with the investigation team, when a position opens up for Freeze Force, you will be first in line.” He put his hands on Galo’s shoulders, “I am sorry, but it is the law.” _

“I do want to be a firefighter,” Galo answered as he pulled himself from the memory. “But I don’t mind my powers, in fact when I do get the chance, they will help me fight fires better!”

Kray shook his head, the same way he had that day, “you still do not understand.”

Hands clenched into fists behind Kray’s back as he glanced at Galo out of the corner of his eye. Galo followed the turn of his head and looked out the window. He squinted as he tried to see what it was Kray was staring at so intently.

“Magic runs rampant through society,” he started, “it is a disease, spreading quickly infecting people, destroying lives. Once upon a time it was only those born with the power that were cursed with this misfortune. Unfortunately, some fools thought that curse was something that everyone needed.”

The younger man turned back to him, his eyes squinted, and his lips parted slightly. “You are talking about the Unlock.”

Kray nodded, “those fools unleashed this new sin on the world, dragging us away from our humanity.” He turned back to Galo, smiling softly, “they did not realize they were moving the wrong direction in evolution.”

He moved around the desk to the wall, he pressed his hand against the wall and slid along the white. A faint glow followed his touch until he stopped near the middle of the room. He pressed harder against the wall, there was a loud click that echoed through the room and the wall lit up, radiating light from the spot Kray’s hand was. Slowly a panel of the wall shifted, sliding back and away, an entrance.

“Come Galo Thymos,” Kray said, “come see the truth.”

Galo paused, his eyes flickering between the opening and Kray. Slowly he wrapped his fingers around his phone, Lio’s number already programmed as a speed dial number. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward. He came for answers.

The opening shut behind them, sinking them into darkness for several long seconds before lights started to appear down the hall, bathing them in a soft glow.

“Humanity is the final evolution,” Kray said, placing his hand on Galo’s back, pushing him forward. “Magic, mystical powers, those things hold humanity back. They are just weapons, used for destruction, they do not add to our society, they do not help us develop.” 

A stale air surrounded them, but underneath it Galo could smell something familiar, but he could not put his finger on it. He kept looking around, but the walls were smooth and did not reveal anything. It was just a long empty lit hallway, leading from a secret door to some unknown place. 

“Our world would be much better without this revolting power,” he continued. “The world would be more peaceful, there would not be trash like your mage friend to ruin things.”

“Lio is not ruining things,” Galo quickly jumped in at the comment, trying to step out of Kray’s reach.

The older man just shook his head again, “he has you fooled.”

It was then that Galo realized they had reached a room, a circular chamber with different halls coming off this room. He turned his head left and right, trying to see anything, when a screech of pain, agonizing pain, echoed through the room.

“She showed us with that dragon that it is possible to change this nature, to free ourselves from these shackles. Unfortunately sacrifices must be made in order to reach that freedom,” Kray said.

He turned slowly to look at the man. His eyes were open, revealed, and Galo could see a sickness within them. Staring down at him, his face had lost all semblance of friendliness. 

“Thank you Mod,” Kray said, glancing behind Galo.

Another scream pierced the space and a sharp pain in the back of Galo’s head followed. He collapsed to the ground, a heap of limbs and numbness as darkness took over. 

The last thing he heard was Kray.

“You will help me make my dream a reality. A world free from this cursed power.”


	7. Chapter Seven

The clock ticked; the sound of every second passing was louder than the last. Lio’s heels clicked out of sync with the ticking as he passed back and forth on the hardwood. The thumping of his heart and the short breathes added to the atrocious melding of sounds.

His stomach twisted in knots, both from hunger and stress. Lunch had passed, hours had gone by since he last saw Galo this morning. But even if he could have paused his worry long enough to shove something down his throat, it probably would not stay.

His eyes flicked to the clock when he came back around on his pacing. His phone burned a hole in his pocket, but he did not dare touch it. His thoughts occupied as they raced, always circling back to one single thought.

“I shouldn’t have let him go alone.”

He regretted the decision the moment Galo was out of his sight, but he could not just break his word and go after him. So pacing was the only thing he could do.

He had already kicked everything out of the way, who knows what had been shoved under the bed while he paced.

Finally, the box resting against his ass buzzed. Lio whipped it out and answered with a shout, “Galo!”

There were a few long seconds of silence before the voice on the other line responded calmly with, “wrong.”

Closing his eyes, the anger and fear clashed in his heart. He knew that voice and it was the worst case scenario. He opened his eyes and glanced at the screen. Sure, enough it was Galo’s phone that was on the line. He should not have let him go alone...

"Kray Foresight."

A chuckle came through the speaker, "very astute." The shift in tone was jarring as the next words came, "I have Galo."

One of the many leftover food boxes littering the kitchen counter burst into flames. The fire did not even have a chance to do more than say hello before a hand was waving it out of existence.

Lio let out a shaky breath and straightened his back, “what do you want?”

“No shouts telling me to let him go?”

A single twitch of his eye was all the reaction he allowed to slip past him at the teasing words. He could not allow his reactions to escape him. He could not allow this ball of rage the chance to explode.

“What do you want?” Lio repeated.

The was a click of the tongue on the other end of the line. “Come to my office, come alone and do not tell anyone where you are going.” The orders came swift. “You have fifteen minutes.”

“It takes a least an hour to get there from here,” Lio scoffed as he started to move around the room.

“You have magic, use it.”

“Like you haven’t magic proofed your office.”

That sick chuckle came again, “you have one hour.”

The line went silent and Lio tossed the device on to the couch before he could throw it across the room in frustration. Storming over to the bedside table he yanked it open, slightly satisfied at the crack it made. A single flash drive rested innocently on top of a clean file, it had a label slapped across it ‘kf/fs’. 

He could trust Galo, he knew it. Could he trust those Galo trusted?

The man would be upset if he found out Lio stormed off without handling this first.

Grabbing the flash drive he slammed the drawer shut again, whatever random items that were scattered across the top of it fell to the floor. They could deal with that when they got back, all of them. It was about time Meis and Guiera cleaned up this mess anyway.

He grabbed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket before he could throw it. Hold that anger, let it out at Kray, keep it until the asshole is in sight.

Luckily, an hour was more than enough time to handle all this.

☆

The phone rang again against her ear, she was far too familiar with the tone at this point. Several rings passed and then the voicemail started again, and she hung up, staring at the screen again. The screen was filled with outgoing calls to the same number. 

“Still nothing?” 

Aina looked over to Lucia who leaned around the screen to look at her. “Yeah, voicemail again.” The smaller girl hummed and looked back to her computer, fingers twitching on the keys. 

Galo had missed lunch and their meeting; he was supposed to bring Lio around. There had been another fire that morning, just after breakfast. The newest member of their team was nowhere to be found, not answering his phone, and without the captain around they did not have contact with the one man that he was supposed to be with that morning. 

“Where is he?” she asked while nibbling on her lip.

Her eyes hovered on the list of names. She could try one of the other two members of the team, but it was unlikely that Galo was out with Varys or Remi. Definitely not Remi since he was out with the captain. 

Why didn’t she get Lio’s phone number when she had the chance?

Lucia made a noise, startling Aina out of her thoughts. “Hey Aina, can you open the door?”

She looked up at the door and then looked to Lucia, who was buried in the computer screens still. Carefully she stood up and walked over there, wondering if she had missed a knock or something.

“What?” Aina asked as she walked over there.

Opening the door, both Aina and the person standing on the other side startled. Aina and Lio stared at each other with wide eyes. Hand held up, poised to knock, he carefully lowered it as he warily watched her. His eyes quickly flick around them, landing on a camera by the door, relaxing when he saw it. He looked back to her and heaved a heavy sigh.

He held out a closed fist to her, “here.”

The urgency in his eyes had her wrinkling her brow as she held out her hand. He almost seemed to vibrate with the energy. A single flash drive was dropped in her hand before Lio stormed off.

“Wait! Lio!” she called after him.

He glanced back at her, “I need to go.” He nodded to the flash drive, “please handle that.”

He was gone before she could ask him anything else. Her questions about this and where Galo was were lost as he vanished. Carefully she closed the door behind her, looking at the flash drive.

“Guess that means Galo isn’t with him?” Lucia asked, rolling her chair over to Aina, “what did he bring?”

She held up the flash drive and it was snatched from her hand. The tech whiz rolled back over to the desk and pulled out another laptop from the drawer, powering it up before plugging the thing in. 

Aina looked over her shoulder, “what is it?”

“I’m just checking for viruses first,” Lucia said as the only program on the spare laptop did its work. “Not gonna fry our system just trusting any old flash drive, even if it is from Galo’s pretty boy.”

The screen stopped flashing numbers and letters, lighting up green instead. Lucia disconnected the flash drive and plugged it into the big computer in front of her. Shutting off the laptop and setting it to the side as the screen filled with different documents and photos. 

Photos of different locations that the arsons had occurred where the only thing she recognized on the screen. Others had people’s faces, some looked vaguely familiar, maybe they were the vanished victims since they looked familiar and the others were of the crime scenes. One woman stood out, a flash before her picture was covered by more documents opening, she seemed to glow in the picture, but her bright blue eyes were icicles on the heart at a glance. As quickly as she was there the image was gone, but those eyes were haunting.

The pdfs were even more confusing than the pictures. Aina certainly was not able to read it all while they kept popping up. She only caught a few words here and there: Kray Foresight, human experimentation, Freedom Seekers, supernatural cleansing, arson, and kidnapping to name a few. They were not the sorts of words she wanted to see.

Aina looked from the screen to Lucia and watched a grin spread over her coworker's face, “what?”

Clearly the other woman was able to make more out of these things at a glance than she was. Her grin clearly said that the cat had caught the canary. 

“Call the boss,” Lucia said poking the cell phone in Aina’s hand, “he’s gonna wanna see this.”

Her fingers went to work, sorting through the documents, putting them in a more reasonable order. She went full focus on the screen trusting Aina to contact the man in charge. She knew as soon as he saw this they would need to act immediately. Best have everything ready to go, the ducks lined up in a row. 

Bless you Lio for delivering the final nail for the coffin to their hands.


	8. Chapter Eight

The giant steel and glass monstrosity stood before him, just on the other side of the road. Sunlight glittered off of the thing, shining all around, blinding many unsuspecting passersby. Lio stared straight up the thing, up to the top floor where, he could bet, the man who kept ruining lives was looking down at him. 

Staring at Kray was not his purpose for staring at the building, though he hoped Kray could feel the rage in his stare. No, his eyes were taking in every single spell laid across it. Magic proof. Only magic could magic proof something, sure enough Kray’s headquarters was layered in so many spells it was amazing even sunlight could reach the glass. 

Even so, Lio could blast that door right off its hinges before storming in. He would not though, he would prove to Galo that he would not go in guns blazing.

Even if he was not going to blast the door off its hinges, he could indulge in maybe kicking in a door.

The street between him and the building was clear, and he strolled across, walking with purpose, but not charging. 

The lobby was empty, completely and totally empty. The usually bustling entrance saw no souls, except for him. If this did not scream trap, he did not know what would. Lio’s eyes glanced between the stairs and the elevator. He is already in the trap, might as well save himself the energy.

The doors slid open and a noticeably clear elevator jingle filled the area, he cast another look at the stairs before groaning and stepping into the enclosed box. The doors slammed shut behind him and it began climbing without him pressing a single button.

See, trap.

The climb was slow, filled with the most irritating elevator music and sharp dings at each floor. Lio leaned against the back of the elevator, arms folded as he stared directly at the door. His foot started tapping, but he quickly forced it to stop, the sound reminding him of the impatience Galo exhibits in everything except his work.

Finally, the top floor, the elevator dinged and the door slid open. Lio was shocked no one was there to greet him. Very carefully he stepped out into another empty reception area. Even the receptionist, who seemed to never move from her computer, was missing. Looking around he made his way to the large double wooden doors in the center.

A rush of air flowed around his ankles as he stepped up to the door. Turning slightly to the side, the air rushed harder around one of them as he raised his leg and slammed it into the door. Slight satisfaction filled him as the wood splintered as the flew open. 

“It was unlocked, I will have you know,” a voice came from inside the room, “you did not need to break it.”

Kray sat, hands folded in front of him, at the single desk in the room. His lips were pulled into a frown so obviously fake that it made Lio cringe internally.

Laying on the floor in front of the desk, unconscious and bruised, was Galo Thymos. The need to run to him filled Lio like a tidal wave, it took all of his efforts to keep from rushing forward.

“It was ugly,” Lio responded.

Taking a single step into the room, nothing happened. The floor seemed bare, with no marks of magic or tampering. He was not a fool enough to trust that a trap had not been laid. Three more steps and sure enough a bright light flared.

Sharp electricity filled his body, pain raced up his spine and sparks prickled over his skin, he could not help the scream that was yanked from his throat. Before the first wave had even begun to die down a second wave of pain coursed through him. Spell barbs planted themselves into his skin, anchoring him to the ground, locking his magic beneath his skin. It pulled hard on him, like a magnet, dragging him to his knees. The pain was overwhelming, his legs gave out and he collapsed. The light faded, his throat was raw from his screams of agony, and all around him were the intricate marks of a cage. 

A chuckle was the first thing he heard as the ringing in his ears began to fade. A chunk of his hair was grabbed in a beefy fist and he was jerked up, the spell barbs ripping at his flesh, blood seeping from the wounds.

“Who would have thought the leader of so many people would be foolish enough to step right into a spell cage?” Kray said, his lips twisted into a grin showing his rows of glittering white teeth.

His head was freed, only to drop against the hard floor as the coils of the spell wrapped more tightly around him.

“Though, I will say I am impressed at how much power that cage had to put out to hold you down.” The man looked, almost fondly, at the spell work laid on the floor, “your power will do much to help our cause.”

“I thought you hated magic,” Lio hissed out, his voice sounded as though it had been racked over gravel.

“I do,” Kray said, his nose wrinkling at the thought, “but in order to eradicate it, we must have magic to experiment on.”

Lio spat in Kray’s direction, “you’re a monster.”

The man stared down at him, all emotion draining from his face leaving only a hard mask. “You filth are the real monsters.” 

His foot connected with the gang leader’s stomach; a shock ran through the binds pulling a scream from his throat again. He walked over to the unconscious man and stared at him.

“That magic ruins countless lives, just like this poor foolish firefighter.” He nudged the man with his foot, pleased when he did not even budge. “This world has been tainted by this magic and it will be so much better once we find a cure for it.”

“Magic isn’t some disease,” Lio hissed. 

“Oh, but it is,” Kray refused to look at the man dirtying his floor, “it is a disease for which there is a cure, if only we can get our hands on it. She proved it when she bound the dragon, the first step is complete. We just need more testing, stronger subjects.”

He began rambling about a magic free world, the words falling on deaf ears as Lio tuned him out. None of the words were anywhere near what he wanted or needed to hear, none of them revealed anything beyond Kray’s delusions. His eyes closed as he looked into himself.

Deep in Lio’s stomach the ball of rage he held began to swell, he allowed each and every one of his people’s faces to fill his thoughts. Thyma and her terrified face as she told him what she saw, Meis and Guiera, their smiles dropping into frowns as people began vanishing, each one of the people he had trained and helped as the world around them changed.

The loneliness when Miko went missing, her calm presence was not there anymore. The loss of stability without Spike there to hold people together. The sadness when Shea was not there to make them smile. Chris, the first one to vanish, leaving a painful hole in their group. Tiashe, who always asked the questions to get the whole picture, always the scientist. Lati, the caretaker of the group, never leaving anyone out. Fey, the master of floof, who was always out there fighting for everyone’s rights, he was a leader and someone who drew people in. Raynef, who refused to let anything stand in their way, who wanted everyone to have a chance to be themselves. Aslana, who drew people in with her art, adding joy to their spaces. Kat (known by the group as Loup), who never gave up and was always there with everyone ready to cheer them on. Each face swirled in his thoughts, burned into his mind, fueled by the ache in his heart. 

Finally, as the rage nearly consumed him, he opened his eyes and looked to Galo. The man was far too limp. Even his most reckless moments had not made him that damaged. Even seeing him that first time, exhausted and burnt, had not been this painful, he had not looked this broken. Each bruise on his face pulled his gaze and the rage reached its max. This was the final straw.

Magic, though it is its own thing, can be fueled by strong emotions. And strong emotion is exactly what Lio had at his disposal now. Rage enough to fuel any fire, to burn for eternity.

Kray spun around and shouted as energy blasted through the room. Heat and then cold followed by heat again rolled through the space. The markings on the ground ripped to shreds as the power tore at the spell, until even the wisps of power were destroyed, there was nothing left.

Lio pushed himself up, blood dripping from the places the spell had been, but each drop dissolved as the power rolled over him. His head was hanging as he forced himself up. His hair whipping around his head, thrashing about in the air. Rushing up with the energy that swirled around him, his hair smacked him in his face and his clothes quivered violently against his form. Another wave burst from him, leaving charred marks on the ground, spanning outwards like lighting.

A joyous laugh came from Kray as he looked on, “this power, you will be perfect for my experiments.”

Eyes glowing snapped to him, Lio screeched his name as the energy burned through his rage and anguish. The heavy table skidded across the ground, nearly toppling over as it tilted backward before lurching back forward and landing with a thud a breath away from where Galo’s prone form laid on the ground.

Metal shrieked as invisible claws raked across the wall, peeling away the covering for the entrance to the chamber Kray had led Galo to earlier. Three long claw marks marred the wall, the metal door landed in a crumpled heap on the ground near the windows, only a hair's breadth from where Kray stood.

The rush of power stopped immediately as Lio’s eyes zeroed in on the passageway. No screams of pain came from the opening, but the hurt could be felt here. Terrible things have been done that way, and the residual feelings poured out.

Fire roared to life blocking the entrance, distracting Lio as Kray stormed forward. Even a rush of wind against the flames did not budge them, they were a solid wall of flame. Kray held a single hand out, only burnt tatters of a glove remained covering it as a flame danced in his hand, twisting around his palm as they reached out to the wall of fire.

“You will only go down there in chains,” Kray told him, puffing out his chest.

He waved his hand, pulling the fire along with his motion, and flames rushed forward towards Lio who braced himself. Locking his knees and raising his arms in front of his face to pull a shield of air in front of him. Only before they could reach him, they dissolved into nothing. All of the flames dissolved, both the wall and the column that had been rushing towards Lio.

“What?” Kray shouted.

Both pairs of eyes jumped over to the desk, where Galo leaned heavily on the wood. The young man grinned, the pain could be seen in his expression, but there was determination in his eyes. One of his legs did not even seem to be obeying him, hanging almost limply against the desk. All of his weight seemed to be on his hip which was pressed firmly to the wood, and the arm he had holding him up, which could be seen shaking from the effort. 

Kray started to storm over that way, but a foot landed on his side, shoving him back into the wall. The man crashed into the wall, trying to grab onto one of the slashes in the wall, but he could not get a grip before hitting the ground. Lio landed on his feet between him and Galo. He spread his legs and planted his feet, trying to block Kray’s view of Galo.

“You won’t touch him again!”

Kray stood up with a growl and rushed forward, his hands burst into flame, they rushed across his fingers turning the last remnants of his gloves to ash. Behind him the entire wall that the hidden passage was in was covered in flames again. His hands stretched out, fingers spread, ready to grab on the second he was close enough. Lio jumped out of the way at the last minute, and the man crashed into the desk as he could not skid to a stop. The wood where his hands were blackened under the heat, even with the fire resistance placed on the desk. 

Turning, he reached out and grabbed Galo. The fire dancing around his hands fizzled out as soon as he touched the firefighter, but the heat was still intense. Galo jerked his hand back, his ability pushing hard as Kray kept trying to force his flames out. He stood up, jerking Galo forward away from the desk. 

A fist smashed into Kray’s face. The man let go of Galo’s arm, the man crumpled to the floor, pulling himself out of the way and back towards the desk. Once Kray’s hand was free he quickly grabbed onto the mage, jerking him forward by the very fist that smashed into his face. He wrapped his free arm around Lio’s neck, trying to maneuver the man to a position where he could hold him still. A foot launched back and up and collided with his groin with a crunch as teeth dug into his arm. He ripped his arm away and shoved the mage away from him he stumbled back, his legs squeezing together.

“That is enough,” Kray hissed out through clenched teeth before he shouted, “Vulcan!”

The fire covering the doorway vanished as he shouted for the leader of Freeze Force. The world seemed to stop, all the magic died down in that moment, the fires dissipated, the rush of angry pressure and power flowing from Lio vanished, and even their breaths held. All three men watched the opening for several long seconds as nothing happened.

“Vulcan get in here,” Kray ordered as he started towards the doorway only to freeze when a different voice answered him.

“He won’t be coming.”

Standing in the doorway to the reception that Lio had broken earlier was the Captain. Shades covering his eyes, he looked as relaxed as he could be. He leaned against the side of the opening, arms hanging at his side and one ankle crossed behind the other. Giving a single motion behind him, a stampede of feet flooded into the opening.

Around him a swarm of men stormed into the room, several surrounded Kray, wrestling him to the ground, while the rest vanished into the corridor. They moved with precision, dressed head to toe in raid gear. Not a single one of them spared a glance at Lio or Galo. Ignis walked into the room passing Lio and Galo, his eyes locked on Kray.

Standing in front of the man’s head he looked down at him. Without changing a single thing about his face, no change in his expression, everyone could feel the disgust coming from him. He stared for several long moments down at the man pinned to the ground who was staring back at him with equal amounts of disgust.

“Kray Foresight, you are under arrest for the charge of human experimentation and conspiring with a known terrorist group,” he said as the magic nullification cuffs were slapped on Kray’s wrists.

“You have no proof!” Kray shouted as the men jerked him to his feet.

Both of them stood eye to eye as the men in uniform held Kray still, awaiting the captain’s orders. Ignis waited patiently for Kray to stop trying to jerk away from the men holding him. Kray was not a fool so he stopped after a few moments.

“Judge signed off on the warrant,” Ignis answered easily, “and I’m sure we will have enough after exploring that secret doorway. And we will probably be able to add a few more charges at that point.”

He pointed his thumb in the direction of the passageway, where already some people were being led out in cuffs. He made a motion to the men holding Kray and the man was led off, cuffed and dragged just like all the other monsters coming from those rooms.

Galo let go from where he pulled himself up at the desk after Kray jerked him around as the adrenaline wore off, “oh thank god,” he said as he collapsed. 

His arms ached from holding himself up and his legs were completely numb. Every bruise throbbed as he moved. The exhaustion was strong, he felt like he would not be able to put out a candle at this point, his ability drained with his energy. He let himself crumple to the ground, his legs spread out awkwardly, but not twisted. His back was pressed against the desk and that was the only reason he was not completely lying on the ground.

As soon as he hit the ground Lio’s eyes flew back to him. A flash of panic filled his eyes. He rushed over, and dropped to his knees, his hands reaching out to touch Galo.

“I’m just tired,” he tried to reason to the other man, trying to wave off his hands.

“You’ve been beaten black and blue,” Lio snarked back as his hands began running over the exposed skin.

Lio counted each and every bruise and cut on Galo’s skin. The bruise on his cheek, the cut across the top of his face, the bruise on his chin, it was clear that his time with Kray had not been pleasant. His hands ran over his legs, testing for anything obvious broken. He pulled at the shirt that had been put on him, Lio knew for certain that it was not one of Galo’s. Finally, Galo grabbed Lio’s hands pulling them away from him.

“Hey,” he said moving so he could get eye contact, “it’s fine, you came, I’m here, it all worked out.”

Lio took a deep breath as he frowned. Galo grunted as he followed Lio’s eyes, making sure he was always looking right at him. Lio shook off one of Galo’s hands, freeing his hand so he could place it on Galo’s cheek, carefully not aggravating the bruises there.

“I shouldn’t have let you go alone.”

“I got good information!” Galo tried to reason.

“Good information you are going to have to report to us.”

The two young men were pulled back to the rest of the world as Ignis interrupted them. They thought the man had gone off to help with the secret passageway. Instead the man stood over them with his arms folded over his chest. Even without seeing his eyes, Galo could feel the ‘I am disappointed in you’ from his gaze.

“Captain, I…” Galo started, but as usual he was cut off.

“I will hear it later, when you give your report,” he said, turning his attention to the Mad Burnish leader. “Lio can I trust you to make sure this boy gets medical attention?”

Lio nodded, which apparently was what Ignis expected. He nodded to the both of them and went off to continue directing the investigation and helping the people who were being led out of the secret hallways. It seems they had finished removing anyone who had been working down there and now were focused on rescuing. 

Bandages were wrapped around every single person who walked out. Lio’s heart clenched as he recognized one of the faces. 

“Do you wanna go see them?” Galo asked.

Lio looked back at Galo, forcefully pulling his eyes from that entryway. “Meis and Guiera would be mad at letting me see them looking uncool,” he answered shaking his head, “besides, you need my help now.”

He would follow his word and take care of Galo, who needed medical attention now. After he was sure the man was fine, then he would hunt down every single person who had been in that dungeon and see if there was anything he could do for them. 

“Hey I’m fine!” Galo said.

Lio shook his head and stood, helping Galo to his feet. Focus on one thing at a time, at least the worst was over. He knew his friends would find him soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the Settlement and those of you who let me add you to this chapter. I am so glad to have been able to be part of this event with you guys.


	9. Chapter Nine

A soft light filtered through the drawn curtains, casting beams across Galo’s face. Turning his face to bury his eyes into the soft pillows surrounding him, he tried to drift back into sleep, but the damage was done. Giving himself several more moments of peace, he slowly opened his eyes and sighed with a smile at the sight that greeted him.

Head buried under the mountain of pillows, only the slightly parted lips of a deeply asleep Lio was visible. The blankets bundled around his chest, twisted and pulled as the man slept. One of his legs stuck out from under the blanket, hooked back on top of it as his knee stuck out over the edge. Both of his arms were raised up, one was jammed under the pillows with his head the other was on top of them. Galo could not see the other leg but he could feel it spread out into his space.

Galo sat up and stretched, raising his arms over his head and arching his back until he heard a pop. Satisfied with his stretch he leaned on one arm and looked back at Lio who still had not moved. A glance at the clock gave him all the approval he needed.

He pushed the pillows away from his face and leaned in to press his lips to the pale forehead. The response was a groan and Lio twisted around, pulling the blankets with him, so he could hide his face in the darkness of the pillows again. Galo laughed and swung his legs out of the bed, yanking on the pair of pajama pants on the floor, before leaving Lio to piles of fluff. 

Leaving the bedroom door open, he wandered into the kitchen. The tiles were cold against his bare feet, but it felt good, just like the chill against his bare chest. Leaving the curtains drawn shut, he flicked on the kitchen light. 

He much preferred having natural light when possible, but he never wanted to run the risk of someone seeing Lio pantless again. He had learned his lesson after the first incident.

Measuring out the grounds, he started the coffee pot. There needed to be at least enough for four cups. Once that was going, he dug through the fridge and freezer. They had plenty of time for a good breakfast this morning, so he was going to go all out. 

The smell of coffee filled the air as he cracked open a few eggs, the stove powered up, heating, as he mixed the ingredients together. Slapping some bacon on, he let that sizzle as he continued his work. Soon a pile of bacon filled a plate, he munched on one as it cooled as he began cooking up the omelets. 

One of the chairs at the counter scratched against the floor, pulling his attention for a moment. 

Lio flopped into the chair, leaning heavily on the counter. His eyes only barely open and the sleep was still surrounding him. Galo finished up the omelet, sliding it onto a plate before grabbing Lio’s mug and filling it with the hot liquid of the gods. Sliding the coffee to Lio, he enjoyed the shiver that ran down his spine at the grateful noise Lio made.

Back to the omelet, he finished garnishing it and grabbed some utensils before pushing the plate in front of the other man as well. He could not help the laugh that escaped him as he watched Lio almost sleeping in his mug, eyes slid shut inhaling the sharp coffee aroma. 

A single eye opened and narrowed at him as Lio took another big gulp of the drink. The noise he made was sinful. Galo quickly spun back to his work, but not before he caught the smirk at the edges of Lio’s lips.

Of course he was doing it on purpose.

Soon his own omelet was ready, he grabbed the bacon plate and put it on the counter, along with his own meal. He grabbed Lio’s emptied mug and refilled it, sliding it back to him. Filling his own mug he took his seat at the counter and dug in.

Lio munched on bacon and sipped this cup of coffee, having downed one, he was more awake and aware. He scooted in his chair, closer to Galo, the cold wood against his naked butt sent a shiver through his body. He leaned against the firefighter.

“So what’s the plan for today?” he asked as Galo finished his food.

Galo swallowed what was left in his mouth before responding, “we have to meet up with the prosecutor to talk about the testimony we are going to have to give at the motions hearing.”

Lio groaned into his mug, “why couldn't we just do that over the phone?”   


Galo shrugged, “he wants to cross every i and dot every t, make sure we don’t miss anything since it is a high profile case.”

“Dot every i and cross every t.”

“Shut up,” Galo pouted, grinning when Lio nudged his shoulder against his arm “besides he is meeting with that wolf and elf pair from another agency after us, don’t you want to run into them?”

“Are we sure those two aren’t dating? The wolf seems obsessed with the elf which is shocking because of how grouchy he is.”

Galo swallowed the rest of his coffee, “who wouldn’t be grouchy with a legal name like Jingle Snow?”

The two of them laughed for a moment, remembering how furious the elf had been when the wolf revealed that juicy bit of information. To know there is a man out in the world named Jingle Snow, was a treat. Even better to find out all of the elves from that tribe had ridiculous names like that. Hopefully the pair would not stick around much longer. Even though they were helping solve the Wonderland ring that had appeared in the city, it was hard to remember to call the man Robert or Jones. 

Lio leaned against Galo’s arm, “is that the only plan for the day?”

“Meis said he and Guiera needed you for something afterward,” he responded.

He took a moment to remember which project was the next on the list. After all they had been through, so many of the Mad Burnish had a lot of healing to do and a lot of rebuilding lives to do. So many of them had been permanently scarred by their experiences, they were all strong people, but they never should have had to go through that in the first place. 

The text from Lati flashed in his mind, that was what was the topic of the day. One of the new people they had taken under their wings.

Lio nodded, “yeah we have to go over the reports for one of our trainees, he might be ready to work with someone new. Are you coming to the apartment with me for that?”

Galo gave Lio a horrified look, his eyes wide and his lips pulled into a heavy frown, “absolutely not that place is tiny! I can barely fit in there with just you, I have no clue how you lived there with both Meis and Guiera.”

“Hey it is not that bad!”

“One bed Lio, you guys have one bed.”

A week after that day, Galo finally visited Lio’s home so they could see how Meis and Guiera were doing. He had been horrified. It was a mess just like Lio had said, but no one told him how small it was. It was basically a hotel room, a single king size bed in the middle of it, the only space that had a door was the bathroom, everything else was in the same space. They had assured him that it was a loft style apartment, but it was so tiny! The table could barely fit the four of them.

Galo told them he was never visiting again unless one of them was dying. No wonder Lio basically lived in Galo’s apartment now.

Lio laughed as he got up from the counter, he grabbed the plates and scooted his mug across the counter so he could grab it on the otherside. Galo allowed himself a look as the night shirt was pulled up as Lio stretched, over his bare ass giving him a good eyeful. 

A single smack to his shoulder pulled his thoughts away. “Go shower, I’ll clean up,” Lio said with a roll of his eyes and went around to rinse off the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. 

Galo watched for a few moments longer as Lio took the last of the coffee into his mug, his third cup and last of the morning, before cleaning the pot. A single look sent him scurrying off to the bathroom, leaving Lio to do the cleaning. 

He tossed his clothes into the hamper as he started up the shower. He hopped under the spray before it had finished heating up, but he wanted to wash quickly so he ignored the cold, his muscles relaxed as it heated though. 

Opening the door to the bathroom, after toweling off he enjoyed the view that greeted him, Lio leaning over the bed straightening the wrinkles in the comforter from making the bed.

“Lio,” Galo whined. 

He looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes, “don’t you even dare,” he said. 

Standing up straight he walked passed Galo towards the bathroom, pulling his shirt off as he walked, tossing it into the hamper as he did. The door clicked shut and the turning of the lock was final. Galo whined again, but went to the closet since there was nothing he could do.

The sound of water flowed out from the bathroom as he got changed. He rifled through the closet for some of Lio’s clothes, laying them on the bed for Lio when he got out of the shower. Snagging the towel where he had dropped it he ruffled it through his hair, shaking off the water droplets. 

Tossing the towel in the hamper, the shower shut off and the door was opened. Lio ignored Galo and went straight for the clothes. He slipped into the now open bathroom. Even with the mirror all fogged up, he could do his hair blind from having done it so many times. Once it was standing tall and proud, he looked to Lio.

Water dripped from his head, all over the place. He could see spots on his top where the water had landed. Galo grabbed the towel from the hamper and tossed it over Lio’s head, rubbing harshly.

“Lio dry your hair!”

A rush of wind swirled around them, knocking the towel out of his hands and off of his head. Lio smirked at Galo when the wind stopped.

“All dry.”

Galo laughed and shook his head, gathering the towel and the one Lio left on the floor in the bedroom. Once everything was cleaned again, he grabbed his toothbrush and paste and started brushing. The two men stood side by side at the sink brushing, the sight was a daily occurrence, but most days Galo could not believe this was his reality.

Once they were ready they turned off the light to the bathroom. Galo opened the curtains for the bedroom on the way out. He stopped by to open the ones in the living room as they both grabbed their phones, wallets, and keys. Flicking off the lights in the kitchen he met Lio who was waiting for him at the front door.

“Ready for the day?” 

“I’m ready when you are.”

They both leaned in for a quick kiss, a simple brushing of lips, before opening the door. Galo grabbed Lio’s arm and held up one finger with a sheepish grin. Lio rolled his eyes, grabbing the front of Galo’s shirt pulling him in for another kiss, this one deeper than the last.

The door shuts and locks behind them. They both know it will be at least five more kisses before they leave for the day, it is practically routine at this point. But really they would not have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thanks to Ohgawdplzkthnx.  
> Another thanks to the Settlement, you guys are amazing.  
> And last but definitely not least Shea, who literally makes everything they touch so much better.


End file.
